If This is Love
by ButterBlume97
Summary: "Let me help you," she whispered. Zuko stood as still as he could when her hand reached for his face and he felt the water's cool touch on his bruised skin. He didn't breathe for what felt like an eternity. Avatar High School AU
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes, Zuko hated his sister. Well, he disliked his family most of the time, but it wasn't often that his animosity turned into outright hatred. Today was one of these days.

He leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to look intimidating so no one would dare to approach him. It wasn't working very well so far, seeing as he'd already had to snap at two drunken girls who, one a little more obviously than the other, had begged him to take them to his room. As if he would be dumb enough to do that. He was far too sober to even consider an offer like that.

Zuko knew he shouldn't drink anything tonight. He had to keep all his senses together. It was all Azula's fault. Just because she wanted a huge party for her sixteenth birthday and their father was gone for the weekend, she had decided to spend a ridiculous amount of money on snacks and alcohol and invite what felt like the entire student body of their school.

Of course, Zuko had ended up being the one who had to make sure that the house and its furniture remained intact by the end of the night. So far, somebody had broken an antique vase their grandfather had acquired during his time of travels and one of the tapestries in the sitting room held a stain that looked suspiciously like beer. It was going better than he'd expected.

Zuko didn't really get why so many people had shown up. Except for her two best friends Mai and Ty Lee, Azula didn't really hang out with anyone. Most of the other students found her intimidating. Still, the promise of a night of too-loud music and free alcohol apparently outdid all leftover fear. Zuko concluded once again that people were idiots and that he would never allow his sister to do something like this again.

When would the night finally be over? He took a sip of his drink (non-alcoholic, this night sucked) and tried to drown out the noise that seemed to be coming from everywhere around him. It didn't work.

"Zuko!" He opened his eyes and reached out a hand to steady his stumbling sister.

"How much have you had to drink?" he asked accusingly.

"Oh, come one, you're not my Dad, let me have some fun! It's my birthday!"

 _That's no reason to either die of alcohol poisoning or make a fool out of yourself in front of the entire school._ "Maybe you should take a little break," Zuko suggested as gently as he could and pried the half-filled glass from her fingers.

"No!" We're just getting started! You have to come and play with us!"

Before he could ask who she meant by 'us' or what she wanted to play, Azula staggered off towards the smaller sitting room that had miraculously not been occupied by too many enthusiastic party kids yet. With a sigh, he set down his glass and followed her. Better check what they were up to.

Inside, there were about fifteen people sitting in a circle, glasses in front of everyone, and empty bottle in the middle. Azula just sat down next to Mai, waving Zuko over to the empty spot next to her. "Zuko's gonna play truth or dare with us, right, Zuko?"

Zuko really didn't want to play truth or dare with a group of kids from his school. Maybe the loud music was already affecting his ability to think negatively because he made the mistake of sitting down.

"Hey, bro, this is gonna be so much fun!" Across from him, Jet, a guy from his grade he hated for some unknown reason, grinned at him. "So you're gonna spin the bottle, ask the person truth or dare and if they don't want to play, they have to take a shot. Got it?" Zuko nodded shortly. He didn't like it when someone thought he was dumb. It wasn't that complicated after all. It also was a spectacularly bad idea.

He let his gaze wander over the people present while Jet and some other guy argued about who was going to start. Of course he knew Azula and her friends, but he recognised a few of the others as well because they had classes together or because people in school just knew them. Be it Sokka, the loud and annoying football player; his girlfriend Suki he never missed to parade around proudly; that Aang kid who seemed determined to make everyone happy at all times and mostly failed miserably; and of course Jet, who seemed to have won the argument and started spinning the bottle.

It all went downhill from there. Half an hour later, Zuko had admitted that he was fourteen years old when he first kissed a girl (conveniently leaving out that it had been Mai because Azula would probably have his head for messing with her friends) and his throat was burning from the mix of spices he'd had to swallow for a dare. He could be worse off though. Jet had already had to make out with two girls and even a guy out of there little group, although he didn't seem to mind that much.

It was Azula's turn now. She grabbed the bottle and spun it shakily. Of course, it had to land on Zuko. Could his life get any worse?

"Truth or dare, Zuzu?" Yeah, as if he was going to let his sister expose one of his embarrassing childhood stories.

"Dare," he said. She started to smile and he knew he'd just made a huge mistake.

"I dare you to… kiss whoever's turn it is next." Well, that was not too bad. At least it was just a kiss that would be over quickly. Zuko gave the bottle a rather violet smack that made it tumble. Please, he prayed silently, let it not be Jet.

After what felt like ages, the bottle finally stopped – in front of Suki. Zuko took a relieved breath and was about to get up when he saw Sokka put an arm around Suki's shoulders protectively. Great, he had awoken the jealous boyfriend without even doing anything.

"Don't you dare try to steal my girl!" Yeah, no, as if he would.

"Don't worry, I think I'll pass," Zuko replied and reached for a shot glass. Better not anger a drunken man, he'd heard many stories like these over the years that'd ended badly.

"Oh, so you're saying you wouldn't wat to kiss her? Is she not good enough for you?"

"No, really, it's just – "

"I won't stand anyone insulting my girlfriend like this!"

Yeah, so, the night turned out to be even shittier than he'd feared.

Zuko was standing in the kitchen again, this time holding a bag of ice to his face and swearing under his breath. Stupid teenage boys who couldn't keep their hormones under control. He hated all of them with a deep passion.

He felt his eyes slowly swell shut. He didn't know if it was a positive or a negative thing that Sokka's punch had hit the good side of his face. He was never going to one of these parties again, even if Azula begged him to.

"Zuko?" A timid voice asked from the opened kitchen door. He lifted the ice from his face, but put if back in place without comment when he spotted one of the girls from the game. It was one he hadn't bothered learning the name of. She had dark skin, brown hair that was tied in the back and light blue eyes. Zuko suddenly remembered that she was the girl Aang hung out with all the time.

He heard her footsteps come closer slowly. "I am sorry for what my brother did to you. He always gets a tad protective when he's drunk but this time he definitely went too far. I'll make him apologize to you as soon as he has sobered up."

"That will not be necessary," Zuko replied without looking at the girl.

"I think it is. His behaviour is inexcusable."

"Why are you even here then? Just go back to your little friends or whatever and leave me alone. I don't need your pity."

"I'm not here to pity you. I'm here to help."

Zuko finally put the ice down and squinted at her. The girl was standing right in front of him.

"This looks really bad," she continued and reached out to touch his face. Zuko flinched, turning away from her outstretched hand.

"It's alright, I've had worse. It will be gone in a few days." It wasn't alright, it fucking hurt, but he wanted to get rid of her so he could wallow in self-pity and curse his sister some more.

"You don't understand. I can help you." She went over to the sink and Zuko wondered for a second what the hell she was going to do until he finally got it. The water seemed to follow her hands, coating her fingers, making it look like the water was part of her, just another layer of skin.

"Let me help you," she whispered. Zuko stood as still as he could when her hand reached for his face and he felt the water's cool touch on his bruised skin. He didn't breathe for what felt like an eternity.

Only after her hand had fallen back to her side and she had taken a step back did he bring up his own hand to his cheek. The pain was gone and he could open his eye properly again.

When he wanted to focus on the girl again, in order to thank her or whatever you did after someone heeled your wounds, she was gone, leaving behind nothing but a patch of water on the dark kitchen tiles.


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko was sitting in his theory of bending class, trying not to fall asleep of boredom even though the lesson had barely started. Iroh was a great teacher but those history classes were just a waste of Zuko's time. He should be learning how to fight, not how some stupid earth benders had learned to move blocks by watching some animals.  
"It is important to not only focus on your own element, but to also respect benders from other cultures. Combined, your powers can become even stronger and help you understand how the different powers can work together in one person, as in the Avatar."  
Yeah, right, that was so important for Zuko, seeing as he was not the Avatar nor had the intention of ever being associated with him.  
"Therefore, I will be pairing you off with someone who possesses a different ability than you so you can work on this assignment together."  
What? He hated group work, but this took it to another level. Working together with some meditating airbender bloke or a silly earthbender girl who had nothing better to do than turning rocks into pretty shapes? Or even worse, one of those stuck-up waterbenders who had nothing better to do than proving again and again how much above everything else they were? No, thank you.  
"Zuko" He looked up when he heard Iroh call out his name. "Your partner will be Katara."  
Katara? He didn't even know her but that name sounded like -  
A girl wearing the typical blue clothing of the Water Tribes stood up and walked over to take the empty seat next to him. Was that... the girl, Sokka's sister, who had healed his eye back at the party and he had never talked to again since? Katara. The name suited her somehow.  
"Well, I guess I'll be stuck with you for the next couple of weeks then," Zuko said, although he had to admit the usual venom in his voice was lacking. She'd been nice enough last time. Hopefully, it would remain that way and she wouldn't bother him too much. He didn't have many reasons to be positive about this though because ultimately, all people turned out to be idiots.

"So I was thinking," Katara started and spread her notes on the wooden library table. "Our assignment is to compare the main features of our bending techniques and try to outline similarities which we could use to invent ways of making our bending work together." She pointed out one of the first pages of her notes, which held drawings of a series of waterbending poses.

"Those are some exercises that waterbenders practice with right when we start training. I thought that might be useful?" She looked at Zuko who didn't respond. He hadn't said anything to her yet today, not even a greeting.

"Or do you have a better idea?" she added, getting increasingly insecure because of his continuing silence. Yesterday in class, he had simply nodded when she's suggested to meet in the library today to begin working on their project and then proceeded to ignore her for the last few minutes of the lesson.

"Look," she said, suddenly annoyed by his blank and seemingly bored face. "I know it's not ideal that the two of us have to work together and I'd for sure prefer to have a different partner who would pretend to even be remotely interested in what I have to say, but I'm stuck with you now, so can you at least either try to help or let me do my work in peace without you staring at me like I'm saying the most stupid stuff you've ever heard?"

His facial expression didn't change at all when he said: "Show me the moves."

"What?" Katara was still recovering from her little outburst.

Zuko tapped on one of the papers she had laid out. "Show me this one."

"In here? But there's not even any water in here, how am I supposed to – "

"I don't want you to show me your _surely remarkable_ bending skills. I want you to go through the movements as if you were practicing them."

This guy was so weird. Well, at least he seemed to be over his silent phase and was talking to her now. Katara got up and smoothed both hands over the front of her waterbending robe before getting into position. She went through the motions slowly, just like she'd done it years ago with Master Pakku. When she was finished, she stood around awkwardly, blushing a little under Zuko's thoughtful gaze.

"I think we will be able to work with that," he said finally.

 _Wow, that's great that you are able to work with me. How nice of you to appreciate my efforts._

Instead of letting her negative thoughts escape, she smiled at Zuko and sat back down. "So how do you think we can use this for the assignment."

"I wouldn't bother with that assignment too much."

Katara wanted to protest, after all their tasks were pretty clear, but Zuko just looked at her with a raised eyebrow as if he expected another outburst, so she kept her mouth shut.

"I don't really think writing an essay is the point of all this," Zuko continued after a while when she didn't respond. "Sure, Iroh needs something to grade us by, but I believe the purpose of this is more to bring different benders together and all that shit he is preaching the whole time. We could probably be talking about similar ways of building houses or making robes and Iroh will be over the moon because obviously our spirits connected on a deeper level or some other bullshit like that."

"So you want to talk about houses or robes of all things?"

"Of course not, how boring would that be?" Zuko nodded towards her papers. "These poses look really similar to those in simple firebending exercises. We could try to find a way of connecting them so they could, theoretically, be used in training for both kinds of bending."

"And you think that could actually work?" The prospect of having an idea what to work on made Katara fidget in her chair. "Fire and water are complete opposites though. I'm not sure how they could ever fit together."

"That's where most people start going wrong." Zuko took a pencil out of his bag and pulled her papers closer. Katara watched him draw all the symbols representing the four elements. Instead of being separated by clear lines like they were in all of her school books, these symbols were intertwined with each other, blurring together and wouldn't be complete on their own.

"When I was younger, Iroh used to explain to me that no element can exist on its own. Even if they seem to be 'complete opposites', as you say, the belong together and complement each other. None can exist without the others. Fire and water are in a constant fight. One burns, the other cools. One gets his power from the sun, the other from the moon. Like some people say, fire destroys and water heals. It's all about perspective."

Katara couldn't do anything but stare at Zuko in awe. "Wow, that was… beautiful. Inspiring. I never thought –"

"Yeah, don't start getting all gooey eyed and spread shit about how I'm actually a sappy, misunderstood romantic at heart. That's just the stuff Iroh wants to hear, so you can write that down for the oh so _important_ assignment and then forget I ever said it."

Katara didn't get Zuko at all. How could he talk so openly and with so much conviction about something and the next second shut down completely and declare in was all nonsense? "That would be good for the first task of finding similarities in our bending," she just said in the end. "What about the ways to make our bending work together?"

"We'll think about that next time. Tomorrow at the same time on the practice pitch, bring those papers." With that, Zuko got up in a swift motion and strode away. Katara watched his retreating back and sighed. There could've definitely been someone easier to work with but she felt like she would have learned a lot by the end of this project.

Zuko was pacing his room nervously for almost half an hour now. He didn't even know why he was nervous. He'd never been nervous to go to school before.  
Deep down, he knew it was because of Katara and that stupid project. He wondered if Iroh had paired them up on purpose to make Zuko's life even worse than it already was. It would be just another one of Iroh's cruel plans that he pretended were just 'tries to help Zuko'. Yeah, right.  
Zuko had been pondering over that project for a while. Today's meeting with Katara had been quite successful. She was a little too loud and curious for his liking, but he found that, surprisingly, he didn't mind all that much. She was smart enough for it to be not a total pain working with her. And her idea of using bending exercises for beginners was actually pretty good.  
Zuko had been trying to find a firebending equivalent to the waterbending she had shown him for a while now. There were several similar movements, but they were not the same and Zuko didn't know how much he could change them so that they were still going to work.  
There was no use thinking it over too much though. As much as he hated it, he'd just need to wait and see if it was going to work. Tomorrow, when they would meet again. He would be spending far more time with her than he'd usually like to spend in the company of other human beings. Let's hope she wouldn't test his patience too much so he wouldn't need to snap. Considering she was a water bender, that was a lot to ask, but Iroh had told him as a child that he should always believe the best in strangers. That was stupid advice, but maybe this once, it would be worth it to try in order to let him sleep better tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

Azula liked to plan. She had her whole life planned out before her, graduating high school, further studies of firebending, becoming rich and successful. She liked to be in control and she was proud of herself for never making any stupid decision liked her classmates were inclined to do. This time though, she had messed up big time.

She wasn't entirely sure what her first mistake had been. It was probably waiting for Ty Lee after cheerleading practice to give her a ride home. Nobody really considered her a good person, but Azula could actually be nice to her friends. Especially to Ty Lee because, well... over the years, they had become a little more than friends. That was something else that didn't really fit into her plan of the perfect life, but she chose to ignore it as long as she could.

Now she was here, in a smelly corridor near the school gym, standing around, probably looking out of place, for almost fifteen minutes. She considered leaving when she heard chatter and the tell-tale sign of a door being smacked shut. Most footsteps moved away from her, towards the main exit of the building, but one was quickly approaching.

"Azula! Thank you so much for giving me a ride!" Ty Lee flung her arms around Azula's neck, kissing her on the cheek lightly. Immediately, Azula's eyes scanned the (fortunately empty) corridor for curious onlookers. One can never be too paranoid. Well, apparently one could because Ty Lee slapped her cheek gently, bringing all of Azula's attention back to her.

Ty Lee seemed to have showered after practice, her hair was still slightly damp in her braid, but she was wearing her uniform again. Azula liked to tease her about wearing her cheerleading uniform whenever she could, but secretly she found it kind of adorable and maybe a little bit hot. Maybe very hot because when Ty Lee put her arms around her neck and pulled her down towards her, Azula didn't even think to check her surroundings again before she let herself be pulled into a kiss.

It was familiar and comforting at the same time as it was exhilarating. They had never really done anything in school, Azula too afraid to be caught, the only time they got for themselves the time spend in close quarters, pretending to be just gal pals hanging out. It could grow a little old sometimes.

It felt nothing like the same old though when Ty Lee pressed closer, making Azula grab her waist to give herself something to hold onto. The silver of skin between Ty Lee's uniform top and her skirt was feeling warm beneath her fingertips, but it was a pleasant, soothing warmth, nothing compared to the raging, destructive burn of fire. She lost herself in the kiss for a few minutes until she felt Ty Lee's hands wander down, towards her lower back, getting the two of them even closer together. Azula couldn't do anything else but letting her hands travel downwards as well, lifting them under the hem of Ty Lee's skirt, desperately wanting to –

Someone was coughing loudly next to them. Suddenly the warmth was gone and Azula shivered, opening her eyes just to close them once again in horror. She let her head thunk back against the wall, praying for the first time in her life to be an earthbender so she could make the ground swallow her whole. Nothing could be any worse than actually getting caught by her brother while making out with a girl in a dimly lit corridor.

"Just get it over with," she said without opening her eyes. "Call Father and tell him what a disgrace his daughter has been and watch him burn my name from the family tree."

Only when there was no response did she actually open her eyes. Zuko was standing a few feet away from her, his expression torn between emotions. Ty Lee was still in front of her but not touching, the fear visible in her eyes. She was expecting Azula to have some kind of outburst. Not right now. The fury might come later, now she was just feeling empty, accepting her impending punishment for being foolish.

Zuko gave her one last look and turned away. "I just wanted to warn you that the football team will be finished training any minute and will be going through here. Maybe it's best if you leave." He started walking away without looking back.

Azula couldn't believe this. He wasn't yelling. Was he just quietly enjoying his victory, already planning how he would present Father with this undoubtedly delicate piece of information? "Zuko -" she started, without knowing how to finish. Should she beg him not to say anything? Bribe him? Try threatening him?

"We will talk later at home. It will be alright." With that, Zuko vanished around a corner. Azula stood still in shock until Ty Lee pulled her hand. "Come on, we don't want the team to see us, do we?"

Azula came to her sense and let herself be pulled outside and into the parking lot. Ty Lee stopped next to her car. "Do you think you will be able to drive?"

Azula shook her head once to try and shake the rest of her dizziness off. "Yeah, sure, get in."

"I'm sorry," Ty Lee said once Azula had pulled out of the school grounds.

"What for?"

"Zuko. I didn't pay attention. I knew we shouldn't do this in school but I wanted to kiss you so badly. I hadn't seen you all day. It's my fault we got caught."

Azula sighed and put the hand not holding the steering wheel on Ty Lee's thigh in a soothing gesture. "It's not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it would be both of us. We weren't careful enough. But that doesn't matter now. I will have to face whatever sentence awaits me."

She thought of the night five years ago, the night that had changed everything back then, thought of Father's glee, Zuko's pain and her childish innocence. She had never feared her Father before, but she felt like today was a day for firsts.


	4. Chapter 4

Katara was a little early to arrive on the practice pitch the next day. She dropped her school bag on the ground and looked around. At this time of the day, the place was usually unused. A few boulders were still lying around from earthbending practice and the wind caused ripples to appear on the lake which provided water for the aspiring benders. It looked a bit messy, but it just reminded Katara of the days she had started training, making her feel comfortable and at home.

She had a quick look around but Zuko was nowhere to be seen and according to her watch, there were still a few minutes left until their appointed meeting time. Enough time to go through the things again that Master Pakku had taught her last practical lesson.

Soon, she felt the pull of the water inside her body, closing her eyes for better concentration, raising her arms into a proper pose and focusing on forming the water into the shape she intended.

Suddenly, she sensed movement behind her. Katara didn't even think about it before she sent the water centred in front of her chest towards the intruder.

"Damn, what the fuck was that for," an all too familiar voice said.

"Oh." Katara opened her eyes quickly. Zuko was glaring at her, completely soaked and clearly not amused. "I'm so sorry! I didn't expect anyone to be here yet. Let me fix this."

"You better, it's bloody freezing." She saw him shiver in his wet clothes and stepped closer. With a small swipe of her hands, she drew the remaining water away from him and back over to the lake. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, don't bother. I've had worse." Once he was completely dried off, Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. _A sign of defensiveness,_ Aang's voice said in her head. _He's wary of you._

"We can't practice here today," Zuko told her. "They need this space for some stupid extra football practice. I have no idea why they can't just do it on their field but as a normal student, you are apparently not allowed to question football stuff."

"Oh, okay. Maybe they just need more room or something. Is there anywhere else we could go?"

"Not on school grounds. Bending is forbidden in the library and a classroom would be too small."

Not on school grounds. Katara mulled the problem over in her head. "You could come to my house with me? It's not really huge but we have a small back garden that should provide us with enough space." Sokka wouldn't be happy if she brought home a firebender, not even thinking about her father's reaction, but she needed to finish this assignment and if Sokka wanted to complain, he should do so to Master Iroh for giving it.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Zuko said slowly. "The last time I entered the Water Tribe district, I almost drowned and then got frozen into a block of ice and taunted by some kids for hours."

"That would never happen while you're with me. Also, couldn't you defend yourself? As far as I know, you're not that bad at firebending, shouldn't you be able to defend yourself against a bunch of kids?"

Zuko coughed strangely, his face going a little pink. It was kind of endearing and fascinating to watch. "It was night-time, so wasn't at the strongest of my abilities. I might have also been a bit drunk."

Katara had to supress a laugh at that, wondering how a drunk Zuko had ended up in the Water district, imagining him stumbling around her neighbourhood, cursing stupid waterbenders.

"It's alright, you can laugh at it, it must have look hilarious. I just don't fancy something like that happening again."

Katara took a deep breath to get the giggles under control that wanted to escape her. She managed just in time. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you. That must have been really embarrassing for you at that time and I understand why you don't wat to go back, although that would never happen when I'm with you. So what are we going to do about practicing today?"

They heard voices approaching from the main school building. "First, we should get out of here, come on." Zuko picked up the bag Katara had carelessly dropped on the ground earlier and grabbed her wrist to pull her off the pitch and towards the student parking lot. He seemed to be debating with himself in his head, his facial expression changing quickly, but the only thing Katara could focus on was the gentle but still strong grip he had on her wrist. Her whole arm was tingling with warmth as if she was too close to an open fire. Which, well, was kind of true.

In the parking lot, Zuko let go of her and unlocked a black, expensive-looking car. "Get in," he said, gesturing towards the passenger door.

"Where are we going?" Katara asked sceptically when he started the engine and pulled out of the school grounds. Could this be compared to one of those situation her father had told her about when she was a little girl, warning her never to get into a car with a stranger? She didn't really know Zuko that well after all.

"We have quite a big yard, there should be enough room for practicing if you don't mind."

"Wait, so you're taking me to your house?"

"That's what I just said."

"And you parents won't mind?" Katara couldn't imagine them to be open-minded enough to let some random waterbender into their house. Most people these days didn't trust members of other nations.

"My father is out of town until tomorrow and what happens during his absence is not of his concern." He didn't mention a mother and Katara knew better than to ask, having heard many rumours in school ranging from _she left her husband with two small children because she fell in love with another man_ to _she was kidnapped by pirates and her own family didn't even bother looking for her._

"What about your sister? She was quite nice last time we met, but from what I've heard, she is not really friendly regarding people like me."

Zuko's face settled into a hard expression. "She's not really friendly regarding people in general. But I am certain that Azula will know better than to say anything."

Still, Katara felt a little nervous walking up the front steps of the huge mansion behind Zuko. The door was opened by a man dressed like a servant before they could even knock.

"Master Zuko." The servant bowed low. "I wasn't told we were to expect a guest tonight."

"She's no guest, we simply have to work on a school project together," Zuko replied, suddenly looking bored out of his mind. She noted that he was a really good actor. "I would prefer if no word about this carried to my father."

"Of course." The servant bowed again. Who even had servants anymore these days. "Miss Azula has informed me that she wishes to speak to you as soon as you return home."

"Tell my sister that I am busy and I will come see her later. And that she doesn't need to worry, I won't rat her out just yet."

"As you wish." With that, the servant hurried away, leaving them alone in the entrance hall that could possibly fit her family's whole house. Her memories from Azula's party definitely hadn't done it justice.

"Stop staring, come on, we have work to do."

She followed him through a long corridor into a nicely arranged sitting room and out of a back door. The first view of the garden made her halt in her steps. It was simply stunning. The centre of the yard was empty and covered in soft looking grass. Around the edges of the clearing stood large trees and she could even see a pond in the distance. She wondered how wealthy one had to be to own such a property.

"Alright, let's get started so we can be finished before it gets dark," Zuko announced, seemingly unmoved by their surroundings. Well, he'd probably been living here all his life, he had to be used to it by now.

She quickly got her papers out of her back and spread them on one of the stone benches near the house where they would be relatively protected from the winds.

"This one!" Zuko pointed to one of the poses depicted. "There is something in firebending called _greeting of the sun_ and it looks like it could work together." Zuko went over to the free space, shrugging off his jacket on the way which left him in a black short-sleeved t-shirt.

Katara watched him closely as he went through the motions, creating a small ball of fire, shooting it about five feet into the air before pulling it back and making it vanish.

"This whole series of moves is all about control," he explained. "It is important for young firebenders to not only learn how to produce flames, but also how to control them. Many burn themselves several times during this stage because they might think they are ready to try more advanced exercises and they're too ignorant to listen to their Master."

"Did that ever happen to you?"

"Let's just say, I was lucky that there were always enough healers available while I was going through training."

Katara simply nodded and got into position on the lawn across from Zuko. "Let's try it together." She went to summon some water from the pond, but he stopped her.

"Not yet. We will being by just going through the steps at first. I don't fancy getting drenched for a second time today."

"That was an accident, I promise, it won't happen again!"

"Yeah, right. Just get ready."

Two hours later, Zuko was lying on the ground, defeated, soaked through (for the fifth time!) and so tired he felt like he could fall asleep right here in the garden. On second thought, the grass was rather comfortable. If it weren't for the cold wind cutting through his wet clothes, he would probably be asleep by now.

"I should –" he heard Katara begin.

"No thanks, you've done enough." Zuko heaved himself up into a sitting position, looking over to find that she wasn't much better off than him. Most of her hair had fallen out of her braid and was tousled by the wind. Her robe had several holes where he'd burned it by accident and with guilt, he thought back to the times she'd had to heal herself when their motions had been broken and his fire had become out of control. Maybe he should be glad that he'd only had what felt like a few buckets of iced water emptied over his head.

"This is never going to work," Katara sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest and burrowing her face in her hands. Somehow, the desperate hopelessness in her voice made Zuko want to succeed even more.

"Don't give up just yet," he said gently. "We will find a way. I know we will. Maybe we should call it a day for now and try again some other time."

Katara looked up at him, her eyes suspiciously wet. "We should keep trying, at least one more time, maybe –"

"Katara. We're both too tired. Come on, I'll drive you home." He got up and reached out a hand to help her do the same.

"You really don't need to drive me. I can walk home or catch a bus."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not going to let you walk through the firebending district all on your own in the dark. There are enough bandits out there at this time, who knows what they would do to a pretty girl like you." Her eyes widened a little when he called her pretty. Huh, interesting.

"I can look after myself."

"I don't doubt that you're able to protect yourself under normal circumstances, but that's no reason to put yourself in a dangerous situation on purpose. Let me drive you so I don't need to worry if you've made it home safely."

"You would be worried about me?"

 _Well, Zuko, how do you get of that without admitting that you kind of… like her? Or at least find her interesting?_ "You're… not an awful person." _Wow, great save._ "And I also haven't just spend hours on practicing this shit for it to be all for nothing."

"That's very nice to hear," she laughed.

"You're welcome. Do you mind if I go and change quickly? I feel like I stink of pond water." _Just get away from her for a few minutes to get yourself under control._

"Oh, sure, I don't mind. I'll just wait."

Zuko led her inside and made her sit down in the sitting room before sprinting upstairs. He changed out of his school uniform quickly and put on a pair of jeans and a dark red jumper. He considered doing something with his hair, but by now it was probably a lost cause anyway and after all, he wasn't trying to impress anyone.

He practically ran back downstairs to find Katara standing in the middle of the room, looking out of place and slightly terrified. "Did anything happen?" he wanted to know immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a weird encounter with your sister."

"Oh no. What did she say? She didn't do anything to you, did she?"

"She was… actually nice?" Katara looked as if she couldn't really believe it herself. "She wanted to know what I was doing here but before I could explain, she said, never mind, it's not like Zuko does any worse than me and then she left."

Zuko wanted to roll his eyes at Azula's behaviour. He really needed to talk to her tonight and make it clear that he would never tell Father about what he'd witnessed today between her and Ty Lee. Considering his luck, Father would unleash all his rage on him and Zuko didn't want a replay of that night years ago. He came by well with how it currently was, father ignoring him most of the time.

"Don't worry about Azula," he told Katara. "Let's go and get you home before your parents send out a search party. It's getting late."

"Thanks again for giving me a ride."

"Don't mention it."


	5. Chapter 5

When Zuko returned home, he was so tired he could've gone straight to bed. Unfortunately, there was still one problem left that needed to be dealt with. Just as he wondered if he could manage to avoid the matter until tomorrow, the problem in form of his sister appeared at the top of the staircase.

"There you are! What took you so long?"

"Well, traffic was really bad –" he started, but Azula cut him off, instead rushing down the stairs just to grab his arm and pull him back up.

"Come on, I'm not going to have this conversation right here."

That was pretty smart. Mostly, their servants kept quiet about all eventual indecencies they witnessed, but this was a delicate matter that shouldn't reach their father under any circumstances. It was better to play it safe.

In Azula's room, Zuko sat down on a dark leather sofa and had a look around. He hadn't been in here for years and was surprised how much it had been changed to fit modern standards. In comparison, his room would probably still look like that of a child.

"What are you playing at?"

Zuko's head snapped up and felt Azula's eyes bore into his. She was standing in the middle of the room facing him, arms crossed, looking fierce and powerful as always. He imagined her additionally tapping her food in annoyance.

"Why do you think I would be playing anything?"

"Because, let's be honest, if I was in your place and had witnessed something as scandalous as that, I would have called Father immediately. This is your chance to get back at me for all the shit I've done to you over the years. It's also the perfect opportunity to redeem yourself in Father's eyes. The formerly perfect child turned out to be a disappointment, a disgrace to the family name. Why would he not turn to his son, reconsider his actions from a few years ago and come to the conclusion that they're not as bad as what his daughter had done."

Zuko shook his head slowly. "That's a load of bullshit and you know that. Father would never change his mind. If anything, he'd disown both of us because I've probably corrupted you or something.

Azula stared at him, wide-eyed. "He can't throw us out, can he?"

"He could. But he won't. If you haven't listened last time, I'll repeat this once again. I am not going to say anything." Zuko got up and went to stand in front of his sister. He was about a head taller than her and had to look down to study the lines of worry on her face. "You have my word that I will never tell anyone about what I saw today or what it might imply. I swear on my honour."

"I'm – thank you – " Without thinking about it, Zuko put his arms around her and pulled her closer. When was the last time he'd hugged his sister? He couldn't remember. "Thank you so much," she said. "I have no idea why you're even doing this, I've always been awful to you."

"Someone once told me to always believe that everyone had a good side. Maybe I'm trying to find yours."

"That's ridiculous. Everyone would've given up about that years ago."

"I'm just very stubborn."

"Well, that definitely sounds like you." Azula laughed a little. She took a step back and tucked a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm also not really trying to get Father's attention anymore. I'm used to him leaving me alone by now," Zuko admitted.

"Yeah, every day that sounds more and more appealing to me. He has this picture in his head of the person he wants to turn me into, but it's getting increasingly harder to pretend. I would still like to do further studies after school and maybe go into politics, but it feels different now."

"Why don't you want to do it? You still could. Whatever you do in your free time doesn't make a difference, does it?"

"Not really, I guess, but I've always felt like it would somehow not fit into this plan Father has about my life, you know?"

"I'm pretty sure that was not part of Father's plan, but why not make your own? It's your life."

"Wow, are we getting deep now, talking about our feelings? How far we have come, little brother…"

Zuko laughed suddenly and he shoved her shoulder playfully. "Fuck off, I was just trying to be nice to you. I think I'd better go now."

Azula gestured towards the door with a flick of her hand. "Feel free to leave. It's not like I'm holding you hostage or anything."

He was almost out in the hallway when she added: "By the way, that waterbender girl is really pretty."

Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. She wouldn't turn this into a way to blackmail him, would she? No, not after everything that had happened just now. Would she? If yes… Zuko found himself not caring as much as he used to.

"I know," he said and closed the bedroom door behind himself.

Katara hadn't even realised she'd been staring until Aang waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Katara? Are you in there?"

"Yeah, sorry, I've been just… thinking." She cast her eyes downcast quickly in order not to raise any more suspicion. _It's only a project you're working on with him,_ she told herself. _Him ignoring you for the last few days doesn't mean anything. There's also no reason to keep it from your friends._ Still, she felt like she'd better not mention it.

"Who were you watching so intensely, babe? Is there finally a guy who has caught your eye?" She rolled her eyes at Jet. Over the years, when he hadn't stopped constantly hitting on her, she had perfected her cold attitude towards him. "I'm still not going on a date with you," she said and was proud of herself when her voice sound a hundred percent bored.

"Why not? I think we'd make a beautiful couple." Jet grinned at her.

"Ew, no, thanks. I think I'd rather date anyone else, really."

"Anyone?" His raised eyebrow annoyed her to no end.

"Yes," she replied, matching his unspoken challenge.

"So if I proposed bet, you'd do it? Let's say, I choose any guy in here and you'll either go out with him or with me, you'd pick him, no matter who it is?"

"Well, there'd have to be a few rules."

"I'm not usually one to negotiate," Jet started. "Fine. What rules do you have?"

"He has to be sixteen or older because everything else would be illegal and I'm not a creep. I has to be student because there might be some teachers in here right now who are technically guys, but I'm certainly not going to ask a teacher out."

"That would be really funny though."

Katara glared at Jet. "I'm sure I'd have so much fun at detention. No teacher."

Jet threw up his arms in playful defeat. "Fine, you're the boss. I'll choose a student sixteen or older. Any other rules, your Highness?"

"What if he says no?" Aang pitched in.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Katara believes that she could any guy in here to say yes, don't you, babe?" Katara didn't even acknowledge the repeated use of the pet name. "And if he doesn't, I'll take her out to help her heal her broken heart." Jet was grinning even wider now. It made Katara feel a little sick.

"That's not really fair," Aang argued, but Jet interrupted him.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Will you stop bothering me if I do this?"

"Of course, babe."

"Then we have a deal."


	6. Chapter 6

Jet had asked for 24 hours time to choose the perfect guy for her date (which hopefully didn't include him paying someone to say no so she'd go with him, but she didn't guess Jet was smart enough to think of that).

Katara felt a little anxious when she sat down for lunch the next day.

"You don't have to do this," Aang whispered next to her, but she shook her head.

"If this is what makes me get rid of Jet, I'll do it. I'm so done with him. And it's only one date, how bad can it be?" Aang's face said that it could get really bad, but she ignored it for now because Jet was just sitting down across from her, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"I think I found the perfect guy for you, babe."

"You realise that sentence just sounded really wrong?"

"You'll never guess who it is."

"But I'm pretty sure you're about to tell me."

Jet leaned over the table so his face was closer to hers. "Do you remember the party at Azula's house a few weeks ago?" She nodded sharply. "Great. So you'll be going on a date with her lovely brother."

Katara fought the urge to jump out of her chair, trying to appear calm and collected. It didn't work very well.

"Zuko? Are you serious?" Aang asked incredulously next to her. "He wouldn't even kiss Suki at the party as a part of a game. Why would he date Katara?"

"That's exactly the point!" Jet exclaimed.

When it had just been some random boy in her head, Katara had been okay with just asking him out and later saying some shit like she hadn't really felt a connection between them, but the idea of doing this to Zuko made her nervous. Not only because he tended to have uncontrollable fits of rage, according to rumours. He'd been so nice to her and now she was supposed to use him, only to prove something to Jet. The situation was a mess and it hadn't even started yet. She had to do it anyway. Zuko would still have the option to decline.

"Fine," she said and grabbed her back. "See you later, Aang."

"Katara, please be careful, he might –"

"I know what I'm doing." She didn't, but that did not keep her from moving through the cafeteria to where Zuko was sitting on his own like usual.

"Hi!" she said and took the empty seat across from him. If Zuko was surprised to see her, he didn't let any of it show on his face.

"Hi. I haven't figured out anything for our project yet if you were wondering about that and I don't have time to practice today."

Katara took a deep breath. "That's actually not the reason I came over."

She practically saw his whole body go tense, his fingers twitching where they had been resting on the table before. "Why are you talking to me then?"

"It's kind of a long story."

Zuko looked over to the huge clock that was hanging above the entrance to the cafeteria. "You have about ten more minutes until lunch is over, better make it quick."

Where to start? "Alright, so you know Jet?" He nodded. "He's been hitting on me for year and it's been annoying me to no end, so we made a bet that if I could get a random guy he chose to go out with me, he'd leave me alone."

"That sounds like him. Are you going to do it?"

"It all depends on whether the guy will say yes. Otherwise I'd have to deal with Jet." Her face scrunched up into a grimace.

"That's horrible. So who do you have to ask out?" She raised an eyebrow and realisation dawned on Zuko's face. "That's… oh. That means I'd have to go on a date with you so you wouldn't have to go with Jet?"

"Pretty much. Of course you don't have no if you don't want to," Katara said quickly, watching him carefully. She was stunned that he hadn't said no right away. Maybe he was trying to let her down gently.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Katara couldn't quite believe it. "Really?"

"Sure. No one deserves the kind of punishment of a date with that jerk and it'll probably piss him off so much."

"That's true. Thank you so much for doing this. I can't wait to see his face when I tell him."

Zuko smiled. He had a really cute smile. She should probably not been thinking this.

The bell interrupted any further conversation. "Um, so when do you have time to go on that date?" Katara asked quickly.

"I'm pretty busy for the next few days. If that's okay with you, you could give me your number and I'll text you?"

"I think I got a better idea." Katara smirked and got out a pen, holding her arm out to Zuko.

"Are we thirteen again?" Zuko muttered, but he still uncapped the pen and pushed up the sleeve of Katara's robe, pushing it back down after scribbling down a series of numbers. "It's not like anyone has to see except for Jet," he explained. "If I get some kids prank calling me in the near future, I'm going to blame it all on you."

"You won't, I promise. Thank you so much!"

"Yeah, whatever." Did he actually blush a little? "I should go to class, see you!"

"Bye!" Katara stared after him, going over what had happened in her head and not quite able to believe that she would be going on a real date with _Zuko_.

Katara exited the cafeteria in a hurry, hoping not to be late to her next class. Aang was already there waiting, sitting in his usual seat next to hers. Luckily, there was no sign of their teacher yet.

"There you are, Katara! I was starting to get worried about you. How did it go?" Aang was looking at her with pity, as if he didn't know what would be worse, having Zuko accept or decline her request.

"It seems like I'll be going on a date soon." She rolled up her sleeve so Aang could see the numbers written in black pen, not standing out much against her skin.

"He actually said yes? I can't believe it."

Katara shrugged. "Me neither. But it will definitely be better than dealing with Jet."

"Are you sure?" Aang asked, sounding worried again. "I've heard stories about him.."

"Do you serious believe in those stupid rumours?" She couldn't believe that Aang of all people was pushing stupid stereotypes. "Listen, I didn't want to say this in front of that idiot Jet, but I have worked together with Zuko before on some stuff for bending theory and he was nice and perfectly polite the whole time. He's certainly not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. And know he agreed to play along and take me on a date just so I wouldn't have to go with Jet. I think that says a lot more about him than some rumours you might have heard."

"Woah, okay, calm down. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just looking out for you."

She smiled at him. "I really appreciate that, Aang."

There was no evading Jet forever. When Katara was walking down the steps in front of the school building, he was already waiting for her. "Katara!", he yelled. "Want me to walk you home?"

"I think I'd rather get run over by a bus," she replied and continued walking, trying to ignore Jet who had fallen into step next to her.

"You're always so polite," he said conversationally. "I'm only trying to be a gentleman."

"I doubt that you have any idea what that even means. You are certainly not behaving like one most of the time."

"Excuse me, when haven't I been anything but kind to you? I'm even nice enough to let you choose where you want to go for our first date."

"Too bad I won't be going on a date with you." Katara sped up her walk, but Jet was still not falling behind.

"We had an agreement. Now you're practically contractually obligated to."

Katara stopped abruptly, looking up at Jet. "The bet said I'd only have to go with you if the boy you chosen said no."

"Oh, come on, don't tell me scar-face agreed."

Katara felt the sudden urge to punch Jet. Maybe she would feel better after she did. "Don't you dare insult the boy I'm dating," she said instead. With that, she turned around and walked away as quickly as she could without running, hoping Jet would be too stunned to follow her.

"You're lying, water girl!" he yelled after here when she'd almost reach the corner where she needed to turn. "How will I know you are not bluffing?"

"You won't."

She was kind of surprised when there was no response, but she didn't turn back to check on him.

Zuko had just finished his daily bending practice session when his phone vibrated with a new message from an unknown number.

 **Hello? It's me, Katara.**

A second message arrived shortly after.

 **I really hope you didn't give me a fake number because that would be very embarrassing.**

That sounded a lot like her. It took him almost five minutes to draft a reply that hopefully sounded neutral enough.

 ** _Don't worry, I wouldn't. I'd be far too scared what you'd do to me after you found out._**

 **You think I'm scary?**

Zuko had no idea how to respond. This was a lot harder than talking to people face to face. He hated not being able to see how people would react to what he said. Just then, a second text came through.

 **I hope you're not scared to go out with me though**

 ** _I thought I'd already agreed to that? No taking anything back and all that. Anyway, when do you have time to go? I'm pretty busy but I got Saturday off._**

 **Saturday sounds good. Any ideas what we could do?**

He thought about it for a moment. He wasn't really one to go on lots of dates and most times, those girls hadn't been interested in the date-part but more in the part that they assumed would happened afterwards.

 ** _Want to go see a movie?_** He suggested.

 **I don't know, being in a dark room, all alone with you? Some people think you're dangerous.**

Yeah, those girls who were into bad boys and scars and thought he'd appreciate them being all over him. No, thanks.

 ** _I wouldn't kill you on a date. That would be just showing bad manners._**

 **Well, thank you.**

 ** _I could take you out to dinner?_**

While he waited for her to reply, Zuko left the training space his father had set up in the basement (who even did that?) and walked up to his room slowly.

 **Dinner sounds ok. I'm not really into all that fancy restaurant stuff but I'm sure I'll survive for one night.**

 ** _It's doesn't have to be too fancy. I know this little café that has really great food._**

 **Yes, sounds good!**

They quickly made out the details. After they'd said goodbye, Zuko fell down on his bed, exhausted from training but wide awake at the same time. He stared at the blank screen of his phone as if he was waiting for it to light up with another message. It didn't, of course.

Everything had been said, they'd go on their date to play pretend for a couple of hours and then resume not to speak to each other afterwards. On Monday, Zuko would be sitting on his own in the cafeteria again as if nothing had happened. Somehow, he found himself not wanting that anymore. He knew that his loneliness was mostly self-inflicted, that it was his own fault he didn't have friends because he kept pushing everyone away.

He didn't want that anymore. A small, hidden part of him even wished that stupid date was real and not only a way for Katara to get rid of Jet. He supressed that part quickly.

There was no way to drastically change his life now. He would just try to get through school and focus on his studies. It was not a perfect plan, but a solid one.


	7. Chapter 7

The date was the most awkward situation Katara had ever experienced. Zuko was quiet and withdrawn. He took none of tries to start a real conversation apart from some stilted small talk. What made it even worse was that their waitress, a woman in her mid to late fifties, had said repeatedly what a cute couple they made. Each time, Zuko had been blushing and stammering more. While that might have been quite cute, she was certain they couldn't look anything but uncomfortable, even for an outsider.

The only positive aspect was the food, which was as good as Zuko had promised. Katara shoved another spoonful of cake into her mouth and prayed that it would all be over soon.

The worst thing was that she didn't even know if she was doing anything wrong. She had just assumed that they'd be talking normally like all the other times they'd been together. She hadn't expected _this_ , whatever this was supposed to be.

The waitress approached their table again, picking up their empty plates. "Can I get the two of you anything else?" _Oh no, please don't, I don't want to spend another minute in here._

Luckily, Zuko seemed to be sensing her discomfort, since he declined politely. Without saying much, he paid for their meals (Katara had wanted to protest, but then again, this was supposed to be a date. And his family was freaking rich, so she didn't feel that bad).

They left the café and walked over to where Zuko had parked his car. "So…" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm sorry this date was kind of shit."

Katara was a little taken aback by his straight forwardness. "It wasn't that bad," she protested lamely.

"No need to lie to make me feel better. I know I'm crap at dating." He clenched his fist at his side, so hard it made his knuckles turn white.

"Hey, don't put yourself down like that. It definitely wasn't the worst date I've been on." I kind of was, but she wasn't going to make him feel even worse now. She didn't have a lot of experience with dates in general. This date was still a hundred times better than it would've been with Jet.

"Yeah, alright. I guess I'll just drive you home and we can forget this ever happened?" He looked around nervously and suddenly Katara got an idea of why he was behaving so differently here in public than he'd been in the relatively secure surroundings of the school or his house.

Once they were seated in the car and Zuko had started driving, Katara picked up on that thought. "Why were you so nervous back there?" she asked. "Were you afraid someone would see us together?"

"I'm –" She saw his hands grabbing the steering wheel tighter. "Yeah, kind of. It's just that my father has a lot of friends and acquaintances who might recognise me. I mean, it's pretty hard not to." He laughed bitterly.

"And you think they would tell your father that you were with me and he'd be mad about that?" she asked, wisely ignoring his last comment.

"Being mad would be an understatement. Being thrown out would probably be the better possibility for me. He's pretty strict about us not associating with the other nations."

"That sounds terrifying. Why did you even agree to this if the risks are that high?"

"It's complicated. And this is maybe not the right place for that conversation."

She waited patiently until Zuko had stopped in a small parking lot that, according to a faded sign, belonged to a park. "Let's go for a walk," he said and didn't even wait for her before he left the car and began walking towards the park's entrance. She followed him, growing increasingly anxious when he led her down a narrow path.

After ten minutes of storming past perfectly groomed bushes and pretty flowers, she had enough of Zuko's dark, brooding attitude. "Hey," she said gently. It seemed to shake him out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about… stuff."

"That's alright. You don't really have to explain anything to me if you don't want to."

"I do, though. It's just hard to figure out where to start." She saw him taking a deep breath. "My relationship with my father is not easy to explain. I'm sure you've heard that he was the one to give me this nice accessory." He pointed to the scar that, even in the pale evening light, stood out sharply against his skin. She nodded.

"Nobody knows the circumstances, how it really happened. I don't want to share too many details, but I spoke up against him when I shouldn't have and thus dishonoured my whole family. Father felt the need to punish me. I was foolish back then, didn't want to believe my own father could do something like that."

"That sounds horrible. No child would be expecting that of their parents." She desperately wanted to reach out, hug him maybe, but Zuko looked so fragile in this moment that she didn't dare come any closer.

"After what happened, I learned to hard way how to keep quiet. It also resulted in most of my friends from the Firenation not speaking to me anymore. The few that stayed, I pushed away as hard as I could. It's not really a period of my life I like looking back on."

"Why are you telling me then?" she couldn't help but ask. "I mean, I feel honoured that you would trust me like that, but why me?"

"You're the only one that would actually listen without either judging or pitying me."

Katara didn't know how to respond. Of course she would never judge Zuko for something that clearly wasn't his fault. Her first reaction to his story had been similar enough to pity, but she could see why he wouldn't want that.

"There's no reason for either of it," she said finally. "It's in the past and you're different now. There's no use in dwelling on it."

A shadow of a smile flickered across Zuko's face. "That's true. Back then, I would've never even considered wanting to be friends with anyone who wasn't from the Firenation, especially not some annoying waterbender."

She wanted to go off at him for calling her people annoying when she realised what he'd just said. "You want to be friends with me?"

"I haven't really had friends for a while, it could be nice, if you'd want to? You're also pretty awesome." She knew immediately that he hadn't meant to say the last part like that because his hand went up halfway to his face as if it was going to cover his mouth.

"Well, thank you," she responded in a slightly joking voice. "You're not too bad yourself. It think it'd be great to be your friend."

"Really?" Did his eyes actually light up or was it just the reflection of the setting sun?

"Of course. So, my friend, what are we going to do next?"

"I don't know.. there's a shop nearby that sells amazing ice-cream?"

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

It was already dark when Zuko dropped Katara off at home. After getting all of the awkwardness out of the way, the rest of their 'date' had gone great. She couldn't believe Zuko was actually able to tell good jokes. She hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.

Everything turned to shit though when an angry-looking Sokka opened the door for her. "Where have you been? And who was that guy who dropped you off? Don't tell me there wasn't a guy in that car."

Katara stepped past him and toed off her shoes. "That's none of your business, Sokka."

"I think it is! You're my little sister, you're not supposed to come home at night with a strange guy."

"Well, you should be happy that I didn't spend the night with him."

Sokka looked at her with a pained expression. "Don't say something like that, I don't ever want to imagine my baby sister in a situation like that."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You do realise I'm not a baby anymore, right? I'm sixteen! And I'm old enough to go on dates with guys."

"You were on a date with that guy?"

"No, I was on a date with a different guy, he just drove me home. What do you think? Of course I was. If you're so mad about that, complain to your friend Jet because it's all his fault anyway." She stomped up the stairs, her anger vanishing before she even reached her room. It was kind of nice to have a brother like Sokka who was looking out for her. If only he could stop trying to control everything she did. She resolved to talk to him tomorrow and apologise for overreacting.


	8. Chapter 8

Zuko arrived to school on Monday in a significantly better mood than he'd ever had. He didn't think much would change after last weekend, but just knowing that he had a friend made his day brighter. That he also might have a little crush on Katara that had only grown over the course of their date was a completely different matter. He would need to get over that quickly, he couldn't have it stand in the way of their new friendship.

When he was walking up towards the school's side entrance, he had to pass by a commotion. He didn't pay any attention to it until he heard someone yell "What the fuck, dude!", followed by a loud cheer. Zuko let his eyes wander over the assembled crowd and stopped to watch when he found the reason for their excitement. There was Jet, covering his face with his hands, Sokka standing over him, his fist still clenched as if he's just delivered a punch. What was probably the case, seeing as Jet was still cursing him loudly. This was definitely more entertaining than the usual Monday morning.

"That's what you get for messing with my sister!" Sokka exclaimed. So dramatic, both of them.

Jet removed his hands from his face. His eye already looked painfully bruised. "I didn't even do anything with her!" He seemed to be looking around the crowd. Suddenly, he started grinning. "If you want to know who did though, you should ask him."

Oh no, that was not good at all. He'd already been on the receiving end of Sokka's fist once and it hadn't been the kind of experience he'd like to relive. He didn't even have a chance to flee before Sokka had found out who Jet was so gleefully pointing out.

"What does Zuko have to do with this?" Sokka wanted to know.

"Well, he's the guy who's dating your sister."

Zuko had never hated anyone in his life more than Jet right now. Well, maybe his father, but that was a completely different matter. Sokka was marching towards him now, the crowd cheering, in expectance of a fight. Mindless sheep, all of them. None of them would do anything if one of them ended up being seriously injured. They'd just stand by and watch. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively and tried to keep his expression calm.

"So it was you? The guy Katara went out with?" Sokka was standing right in front of him now.

"Yes, it was me. What are you gonna do now, punch me as well?"

Sokka laughed a little. "Don't worry, dude, Katara would actually kill me if I did anything to you." Zuko tried not to his relief show on his face. It wasn't that he was afraid to get hurt or even to be humiliated in front of his schoolmates, he just didn't need any more shit in his life.

"Just so you know, if you ever hurt her, I'm gonna come back to the whole punching thing. So, treat her right and stuff."

"I will," Zuko replied, not bothering to tell Sokka that Katara and him were not actually dating. He would get it soon enough.

Katara was just bringing her first spoonful of soup up to her mouth when her hope of having a peaceful lunch for once was destroyed by Sokka barging in and making a show of falling into the seat across from her. "You're seriously dating that firenation guy?" he asked exasperatedly. Right to the point, then.

Katara set down her spoon and took a sip of her tea, enjoying how Sokka's face grew more and more agitated with each passing second. Finally, she decided to put him out of his misery. "I am not really dating him. I made a stupid bet with Jet, so I had to go on a date with Zuko, but that's it. We're just friends." Not that she had never thought of them being more than friends, but that would never happen.

"Wait, so you're saying you're not, like, together? Does that mean I played the overprotective brother for no reason?"

She shrugged. "I guess you did. What did you do to him?"

"I just told him the usual stuff, you no. Told him not to break your heart. Man, that's so embarrassing now."

She couldn't help but laugh. "That's actually really sweet. I wish I could've seen Zuko's face when you said it."

Their conversation was interrupted by Aang sitting down next to Katara. "Hey Sokka, is it true that you punched Jet?"

A grin spread over Sokka's face. "No one can prove anything."

Zuko hadn't seen Katara all day until their bending theory class, the only class they had together. His lunch break had been spent training because he wasn't really hungry (and he didn't know how to behave. Should he sit down with Katara and her friends? Greet her friendly but sit on his own like he usually did? Or not acknowledge her at all? He'd had no idea, so he'd just avoided lunch altogether).

"Hey!" Katara smiled at him before she sat down next to him in class.

"Hi," he replied, but didn't offer any more conversation.

Iroh started the lesson, going on about some water bending rats where were apparently very smart and lived in peace with their surroundings. He didn't really listen. Instead, he spent the whole period secretly watching Katara, noting how she was listening eagerly to everything Iroh said, how her hand looked like it was flying over the paper while she was taking notes, how she raised her eyebrows pointedly every time she caught him staring. He might not be as subtle as he thought.

"What are we going to do about our project?" Katara asked when she was packing her bad after class was over.

To be honest, Zuko had almost forgotten about that. "We have time until next Monday, don't we? We could either try to get on the practice pitch some day after school or meet somewhere else on the weekend?"

She seemed to be thinking it over. "Aang included me in some activities for his club, so I think I'll be pretty busy during the week. We'll need to think of a backup plan for our presentation if it doesn't work on the weekend."

Zuko smiled. He still wasn't used to smiling that much. "I'm sure it will. Besides, if it doesn't, we could still talk about the making of robes."

Her laughter sounded bright as she started walking towards the front of the classroom. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked after her.

He went to leave the room, but Iroh held him back. "Can I have a quick word with you, Zuko?" He'd rather not, but saying no to Iroh had always been impossible for him.

"Yeah, sure." He said goodbye to Katara and followed Iroh to his office.

The small room was just like it had been the last time he'd been in here, smelling of tea and stuffed with shelves full of useless rubbish Iroh had acquired during his travels. Zuko took a seat in one of the creaky armchairs and accepted the cup of tea Iroh offered him. It would probably be a longer conversation.

Iroh's outward calmness didn't fool him at all. "What do you want, Uncle?"

"There's no need to rush, my dear nephew. You've always been one to cut straight to the heart of the matter, but sometimes, choosing a longer path brings far more joy." Iroh started stirring his tea with a spoon, looking over at Zuko thoughtfully. "You don't visit me here as much as I'd like you to."

"Yeah, because you're my teacher and I don't anyone to know we're related. Also you should know that I don't share your opinion on this _finding joy in your life_ stuff."

"I understand. Still, you could pay your poor uncle a visit from time to time. I'm only trying to help you be happy."

"I appreciate that. Can I go now?"

"Of course not! We haven't even talked about the reason you're here yet." Damn, he'd been so close to escaping. Iroh seemed to know that. There was actually an evil man living within that seemingly friendly old man's body who loved to make Zuko suffer.

"So, I've heard some rumours about you and a lovely girl…"

Zuko resigned himself to at least half an hour of awkwardly answering invasive questions and wondered silently what he had done to deserve all of this.


	9. Chapter 9

Zuko had never appreciated his father often being out of town more than the last few weeks. That way, Katara could come over to his and they could practice for their project without any problems.

Right now, they were standing in the garden, facing each other. It was a cold day and the wind was rustling the leaves of the trees. "Ready?" he asked, raising his voice to make it be heard. She nodded.

They started going through the by now familiar steps. Last time, they'd already adapted the pace of their movements after finding out that they were designed for different speeds. While Firebender tended to go through their poses quickly and forcefully, Waterbenders performed more calm, fluid motions. They had found a middle ground, but still their bending had been fighting against each other instead of working together.

It didn't look much better today. Luckily, no one ended wet or burnt, but it still didn't feel right. After they'd completed the first round, Zuko was already close to giving up. "Fuck it, it's never going to work," he muttered.

"Don't give up yet, we're only just beginning," Katara replied gently. "Come on, let's do it again. Don't try too hard."

This time, Zuko was even more determined to finally get this over with and make it work. He tried not to think about his steps too much, instead focusing on Katara, watching the water float through the air weightlessly, never out of control. Once they reached their last pose, it was joined with his with his fire, both of them swirling around for a moment before the fire went out with a hiss, the water evaporating into fine mist that settled onto their skin and clothes.

"Did we do it?" Katara asked breathlessly, staring disbelievingly at the point where their elements had come together.

"I think we did," he said, equally stunned by what had happened. "I really didn't expect that."

"Come on, let's try again!" Her eyes were gleaming with excitement.

They tried three more times. Each time, the same thing happened, fire and water circling each other almost playfully before they both vanished into thin air.

"Why does it do that?" Katara wondered when they were sitting in the grass side by side later, catching their breaths. She leaned forward to brush a leaf off her pants and her shoulder bumped into his by accident. Even that small point of contact made it harder for him to think.

Zuko tried to focus on what she'd said. Why would the elements react that way? "I'm not really sure," he said eventually. "But I know someone who would be quite interested in this and might even have an explanation." He went to get his phone from the table he'd left in on earlier.

"Who are you calling?" Katara asked curiously.

"Iroh. He knows a lot about this kind of stuff."

"How do you know that much about him? And why do you even have his phone number?"

"Oh, he's my uncle." Zuko pressed the call button. "He's taught me a lot over the years."

Katara walked up the front steps to the unfamiliar house behind Zuko. She'd never expected Iroh to live in a place like this. It was located on the outskirts of the city where there was no clear distinction between the different nation's districts. She could have sworn she saw some signs of earthbending in the garden next to Iroh's. The house itself looked spacious from the outside, but not too big. It had a small garden in the front with beautiful flowers and neatly trimmed bushes, a path leading up to the door.

Zuko knocked three times. A few minutes later, the door was opened. Iroh was wearing more comfortable clothes than he did in school and he looked a little less put together. His friendly smile was still the same as usual when he invited them in.

On the inside, the house was cluttered, much like Iroh's office in school, but it still appeared comfortable. There were three cups of tea waiting for them on the kitchen table.

After they'd sat down and made some small talk, Iroh finally brought up the matter they'd come to discuss with him. "Can you maybe show me what you were talking about on the phone so I can see what exactly your bending does?"

They went outside into the back garden. Katara tried to do the same she'd done earlier at Zuko's and again, the outcome was like it had been before. She looked over at Iroh expectantly who was shaking his head, mumbling something that sounded like "Peculiar. Very peculiar, indeed." A bit louder, he added: "Could you do that one more time, please?"

Once they were finished with the second performance, he led them inside again. They sat down at the table just like before and he proceeded to fill their cups with more tea. "What do you think, Uncle?" Zuko asked. It was still hard for Katara to grasp the concept of the two of them being related. She would've never seen any resemble, except maybe for them both being firebenders.

"I have never seen anything like that before," Iroh began. "When I gave your class this project, I was expecting students to come up with ways of meditating, mental preparation, fighting techniques or something similar. But you weren't fighting just now. You actually found a way to make your bending work together and create harmony between the elements. I'm curious, how long did it take for you to work? Were there any troubles?"

She looked over at Zuko. "The first time, it didn't work at all, so we tried again today. We didn't think it would be any different, but we got it right on the second try and since then, it has worked every time."

"I see. Now, tell me, did anything significant happen between your first practice and the one you held today?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and she could almost feel how annoyed he was. "We talked about this already, you should know the answer to that."

"Ah, well…" Iroh blew on his tea and a moment later, there was steam rising up from the cup as if the tea inside had just been freshly brewed. "I'll try to find a logical explanation for everything," Iroh said. He fell into the same voice he used when he was lecturing in school, calm and steady.

"The only part I know for sure is why both of your elements dissolved equally in the end. It mainly shows that your bending skills are equally strong. Now for the rest… The motions you went through were originally meant to respectively represent the sun and the moon. Two opposites that cannot exist without the other. I think that would be a nice topic for your presentation in class, showing how neither can exist without the other and how you both pull your power from infinite natural resources."

"But I thought –" Zuko started.

"Let me finish, please. I'd like for you not to share with the class what you've just shown me. Not because I don't see what an exceptional job you've done, but because I think most of the others would not get it. I'd prefer to do some further research before presenting it to anyone so that I'll be able to fully explain it. There could be a great power in this revelation if it is used right. I think it's better to keep it between us for now."

They both nodded. "I got another question though," Zuko said. "How come this hasn't worked before but today it suddenly did?"

"I am not completely sure about that. The only possible reason I could offer would be that there needs to be some kind of connection between the performers, let it be friendship, affection, love. I would guess that your connection was not strong enough yet the first time, but now it is. After you've learned to embrace it, it worked. Because your energies didn't fight each other anymore."

Katara thought about that. They'd practically been strangers before and they'd turned into friends. It would make sense for the outcome to have changed. Even though they didn't know that much about each other yet, the root was there. "Do you think there is more to this?" she asked curiously. "If we can do this, could there be more possibilities?"

"I a sure there are." Iroh set his tea cup down. "These aspects of bending have never been researched properly and I've been meaning to get into them for a while. I will let you know if I find anything important."

"Thank you," Zuko said and got up from the table. "We should go, we've taken up enough of your time already."

"Very well, as you wish. It was a pleasure talking to you. Let me walk you out."

They said goodbye to Iroh and walked back to the car. Zuko started driving, leaving the peaceful, nicely decorated houses behind and heading back into the city.

"What do you think of all that?" Katara wanted to know. Her head was full of half-formed questions she couldn't pose yet.

"Iroh is a very wise man who has many intelligent friends. If there'd anyone who can figure this out, it's him."

"And what about the other things he said? Like, that it worked because our energies have some sort of connection?"

Zuko sighed. "I wouldn't put too much thought into that. Iroh has always believed that in order for your bending to develop properly, you need to have some kind of balance. Harmony of spirits and all that shit. It makes sense he'd come to this conclusion."

For some reason, that comment stung a little. It wasn't like she'd made it up to be some deep soulmate-like destiny in her head, but him dismissing it as if it were nothing still hurt. That was why, when Zuko wanted to know if she wanted to do anything else, she declined, instead asking him to take her home. She really needed to get her shit together and start getting over that stupid crush or whatever she seemed to have developed on him.

He looked a little disappointed when she didn't want to stay. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm just tired," she lied, already regretting it.

He didn't say anything else until he stopped in front of her house. "I'll guess I'll see you on Monday?"

"Sure, see you!" She pretended she didn't feel his eyes boring into her back the whole way up to the front door.

The sun was about to set and Zuko had been pacing up and down his room for what felt like hours. He'd taken a short break in between to get some dinner from downstairs, but afterwards, he's just resumed his endless circles around the room. He needed to find a way to get rid of all the restless energy inside him. Training usually helped, so he decided to head down to the basement.

Firebending might not be the best idea for the current emotional state of mind he was in. He grabbed his two swords and began warming up, blocking and attacking invisible opponents. He hadn't trained like this in far too long, having focused more on his bending. Now, he felt the tension leave his body, his motions becoming more fluid as he got into the art again. He kept up a fast pace, the blades cutting through the air steadily.

After almost half an hour of constant fighting against nothing, Zuko finally lowered his swords. His breath was going faster than usual, his muscles still twitching, his mind racing. He put his weapons away carefully and sat down on the floor so his back was leaning against the wall. He'd have to let the thoughts he'd tried to push to the back of his head get through some time. Better do it now while he was alone.

Zuko just didn't get Katara. She'd clearly been upset about something today after their trip to Iroh's. The problem was that he had no idea why and if he had caused it somehow. He probably did, he'd never been good with other people's emotions and it made sense that he'd fuck this up as well, whatever this was. He hated that he didn't know how to fix things.

Even if Katara didn't act odd when they saw each other again on Monday, he would be thinking too much about questions like if she was still mad and just not showing it. He would turn into a shy and awkward mess again, just like he did on their stupid _date_.

When they'd talked in school, Iroh had given him the advice to just tell Katara how he felt. _If she doesn't know about your feelings, why would she react in any way to it?_ Talking about his feelings with his uncle had definitely been a unique experience that he didn't desire to repeat.

Zuko didn't agree with him on the matter. He didn't believe that Katara was dumb enough to be oblivious to his embarrassing blushing and constant staring. She had to know. He was surprised the whole school wasn't talking about him yet. He didn't even recall turning from a person no one could figure out to one who was practically an open book to everyone.

He couldn't imagine how weird actually mentioning his feelings would be. _Hey, yeah, I know we decided to be just friends, but I also happen to have a crush on you. Sorry for that, I didn't mean to?_ That would go great and totally not end in disaster…

Maybe it'd be better for everyone if he kept his mouth shut and didn't act on his feelings. After all, he'd had all his life to practice. How hard could it be to get over a stupid teenage crush?


	10. Chapter 10

Zuko had taken to sitting with Katara and her friends at lunchtime. She was happy that she was not alone with Sokka and Suki since Aang was often very busy with his club and didn't find the time to eat lunch with them.

The only problem seemed to be that Zuko didn't really talk. She got that he was shy around other people, but right now, Sokka and Suki were pretty busy with each other (disgusting, who would do that in a cafeteria? People were trying to eat here…). She had finished her lunch and got out her homework for History class. If there was no one to talk to, she could just as well get something useful done.

She tried to concentrate on her book, but she kept sneaking secret glances at Zuko. He had his head bent down over his plate, his shoulders tense, looking clearly uncomfortable while he was slowly scooping rice into his mouth. She needed to find a way to tell him that her friends actually didn't mind him being here. Sokka had even told her that "that guy, Zuko, he's actually an alright dude".

"Hey Zuko?" Sokka's voice interrupted her thoughts. He was grinning at both of them. "I'm having a party at my place next Friday, you wanna come?"

"Um…" Katara would bet that Zuko was desperately trying to find a way to say no without making it seem too obvious.

"Come on, bro, it's gonna be fun! We'll have lots of booze and I got an awesome DJ to play us some sick beats."

"That doesn't exactly sound appealing," Katara chipped in, trying to give Zuko an opportunity to decline. She knew how hard it could get to say no to Sokka.

Zuko's face turned into an unreadable expression. "Sounds great. I'd like to come."

Katara resisted the urge to slam her head down on the table in front of her. Why did Zuko do stuff like that? She was about ninety percent sure he would hate it and be miserable the whole night. She would probably never get why that guy acted like he did.

Katara looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She just couldn't get her hair right. On second thought, the outfit she'd picked out for tonight didn't suit her that well. Maybe she should rather wear something different… but what? There was too much to choose from.

She was still staring at the inside of her closet contemplatively when the door to her room was thrown open, letting in the sound of voices arguing downstairs before the closed door cut them off again. "Hey, Katara," Aang said and sat down on the chair in front of her desk, using airbending to make it spin.

"Aang, you have to help me," she begged. "I have no idea what to wear!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Katara, you look absolutely lovely in that dress. What is this about? Usually, you never worry about your outfit that much."

She didn't know how to respond. "I'm…" She sat down on the edge of her bed and absentmindedly started pulling on a little thread that was coming out of her duvet. Without saying anything, Aang walked over and settled himself next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. She leaned into him and tried shutting out all of her worries.

It all came back to her though when Aang finally spoke. "This is about Zuko, right?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" she shot back immediately.

"That's alright, of course you don't have to," he said softly. "But it might make you feel better if you do? You know your secret would be safe with me."

"I know, Aang, you're a really good friend."

"Well, that's always nice to hear," he replied jokingly. What could go wrong if she told him? Aang was the least judgemental person she knew and she'd trust him with her life.

"I don't have any idea how to tell you, it's all such a mess," she began. "There's not really a lot to tell anyway. We went on that date because of Jet and we became friends, he told me some stuff… it doesn't really matter. Fact is, I'm kind of into him and I'm pretty sure he feels the same about me because he hasn't been subtle at all these past few weeks, but then again he's acting so strange sometimes, as if he has terrible mood swings. One minute he'll be laughing at something, the next he'll get quiet and withdrawn, not talking to anyone for hours. It's weird, isn't it?"

Aang seemed to contemplate his answer. "I think it's pretty normal behaviour considering the circumstances. I don't like to assume anything about a person's character, but I feel like Zuko is trying to fit in with you and your friends because he obviously likes you, but at the same time he can't really show it. Maybe he is conflicted, it probably contradicts his family's norms that he's even friends with you. Give him some time to get used to this, okay?"

She nodded slowly. "That makes sense, I suppose. It's just hard for me to sit by and watch when I want to do something to help him, you know?"

"Your best way of helping him will be to let him figure things out on his own."

She thought about Aang's words for a while. "You're right. Thanks, Aang, you always know what to say." She got up and positioned herself in front of the mirror again. "So do you really think I should be wearing this dress?"

Aang hopped off the bed as well and came over to give her a little pat on her shoulder. "You look amazing and he will love it, even if he doesn't say anything about it. Now let's go downstairs and check if your brother and that DJ guy he hired have killed each other yet."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sounds like the perfect to start a great night."


End file.
